Dessert is served! In about 3 mins flat. And it’s healthy! Not overpoweringly sweet either. It’s just enough to fill you up and hit the spot after a light plant-based meal. Perfect for Summer.

Here it is… the simple coconut pudding pie I was telling you about. Life Changing! Ok, not really in the grand scheme of things, but still pretty fast and fun. I was playing around with coconut flour in my last post Mandarin Coconut Dressing Over Spring Salad. Coconut flour is in many-a-vegan athlete’s cupboards and I know why. It’s low carb, high protein and high fiber. It’s filling. A little goes a long way, so be warned. You can do so many things with coconut flour but who knew you could mix it with a non-dairy milk and get an instant “pudding”?

I must STRESS that this won’t taste the same with all milks… You need a sweet milk. I used Silk brand Soy VERY VANILLA. It made all the difference. I tried rice milk and it was pretty good. It was not good with regular almond milk.

I would definitely make this again with the very vanilla soy.

Next, it’s only going to take 3 minutes if you have pre-made mini crusts. Graham cracker crumbs and coconut oil or earth balance buttery spread is all that’s necessary to press into some mini pie pans. You can use those Keebler Ready Crusts. They aren’t perfect, but they are vegan. I’m still alive and I’ve used them before. However, I don’t prefer to use them. Just take a look at the ingredients. Not stellar. But, I saved the little cute tins and just make my own now. You can freeze the crusts so they are ready to go when you want them. Or just take the 2 extra minutes to press the ingredients freshly into a serving dish of your choice. This 3 minute dessert will now be a 5 minute dessert. How awful. Lol.

If you want to know more about coconut flour and where to buy online, check out the awesome site Nuts.com

Ingredients and Directions

This is quite informal because it’s really so easy…. you mix coconut flour and very vanilla soy milk with a fork until the right smooth consistency is achieved. I think I started with 1 tablespoon or 2 of flour for three mini tins. Pour the pudding into the pie tins, top with coconut flakes, mini vegan chocolate chips and a few raspberries. Then watch your seven year old’s face light right up!

You could also refrigerate for a while before serving if you like it chilled.

Let me tell you about a fabulous little discovery, which is totally notnews to some of you. I discovered coconut flour!!! Yes!!!

Coconut flour is something that I heard about long time ago. The seed was planted and then I just had to buy some. And there it sat…. waiting in my pantry… waiting… and waiting. I didn’t really know what to do with it. I figured I would get around to it. Well. Let me tell you. Now that I have, this stuff is amazing!

There are not many things I eat these days that don’t make me stop and think… “what is this doing for me?” “What are the benefits?”. With coconut flour, you get a low carb, gluten free, fiber packed, low glycemic protein boost… along with lauric acid – an immune booster. Coconut flour is simply coconut meat, dried and ground into flour form! A little goes a long way, as it soaks up moisture quickly and expands. There is a texture that is notable. You can’t ignore it, but I like it! You’ll adjust. Just be careful. Sometimes it can be a bit dry. There are ways to get around that.

There are many ways to try coconut flour, you can bake with it, thicken sauces, bind foods and so on. Do the research upon baking as it does act different than other flours.

Oh! Let me share something that will rock your vegan gluten free coconut flour baking world! Forget the eggs! So many coconut flour recipes call for lots and lots of eggs (just stab me in the heart… that’s easier to handle) due the dry nature of the flour. Two words – AQUAFABA BABY! If you don’t know what aquafaba is, I suggest you Google it. It’s the vegan miracle of 2015! Egg replacer extraordinaire. Ah the creativity of the vegan kitchen. Love it!

Right now, there are a few things I like to do with coconut flour. I add a small amount to my green smoothie to thicken and add bulk. The extra fiber keeps me fuller longer. I bind protein bites and bars with coconut flour and I also made an amazing two ingredient coconut pudding that my family went crazy for the other night. It took all of 3 minutes to make. I decided that it should be my next post since I’m on a coconut kick. It’s so simple that it almost feels silly to post about it, but just wait. It changed my life last week ;) It could change yours too.

Let’s talk about salads and how I incorporated coconut flour for a healthy boost. Being that Spring is here, my salads are changing with the season. I like my salads lighter, fruitier and sweeter this time of year. I always prefer no oil dressing and I usually, most often times, make my own. It’s too EASY with a Vitamix!

Right now, we have Mandarin oranges coming out the Wazoo! Don’t you? Take advantage of these while you can. I am pretty happy that my son loves these mandarins because I couldn’t get a steady flow of vitamin C into this kid to save my life. He is quite picky. Or, he just likes to give me a hard time.

I decided to make myself a quick dressing using a few of these mandarins along with white balsamic, that like the coconut flour, has also been sitting in my pantry… just waiting.

This turned out fantastic! Use more or less coconut flour depending on your consistency preference. Creamy is relative, because I wouldn’t call this smooooth creamy… I would call this a textured creamy. But I know what it’s doing for me and it tastes great to boot!

This is a recipe for about one to three servings. For every 2 tablespoons of coconut flour you get 5 grams of fiber, 8 carbs and 2 grams of protein, 2 grams fat. Coconut flour is also high in Iron. For 2 tablespoons it’s 10% of the daily value. I see why athletes are going crazy for coconut flour.

Mandarin Coconut Dressing

Ingredients

2 Mandarin Oranges

1/4 Cup White Balsamic Vinegar

1 to 2 Tablespoons Coconut Flour (start with 1 Tbs. I used 2, but think most people would prefer 1 to 1 + 1/2)

1 Tablespoon Agave or 1/2 Tablespoon of Agave 5

Dash of Sea Salt

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a high speed blender, such as a Vitamix. Blend on high until smooth. Adjust salt and consistency.

Spring Salad

Ingredients

A few handfuls of Power Greens such as a blend of Baby Spinach, Baby Kale, Red and Green Chard

Chickpeas

Pistachios

Fresh Raspberries

Cooked and Cooled Red Quinoa

Favorite type of Sprouts

Directions

Toss the above ingredients in the desired quantity and top with fresh made Mandarin Coconut Dressing!